Chapter 18: What Goes Around Comes Around
Geet heard the doorbell but hesitated to open it fearing Arjun would see her all teary. But Arjun had the keys so it wouldn't be him he tried calling Ramu, the servant to tell him to open the door. There was no response from him either, so she reluctantly walked down the stairs to open the door to relieve the incessant ringing of the bell. Thinking it would be some of Gowtam Uncle's associate, Geet absent-mindedly opened the door and without looking up said, "Maama illa po (Gowtam Uncle is not there)" and shut the door even before the person on the other side had a chance to say something. Maan had taken a deep breath to speak but was taken aback when she slammed the door on his face. Confused, he knocked the door again; Geet again opened the door, "oorukku poirukkaru po (he has gone out of town, go!)" she said monotonously. Maan on the other hand was losing his patience he had gathered with great effort. He furiously banged the door once again determined to give a piece of his raging mind.
"Adadada! (Oh god!) enna setha naazhi nimmadhiya vidamatale (They wont leave me peacefully even for little time)" Geet lamented turning to open the door again. "Maama illa po, oorukku poirukkar po! (Gowtam Uncle is not there, he has gone out of town, go!)" she said with a pitch higher than normal. Her utterance was the last nail in the coffin, even before she closed the door again he growled, "Geet!" while pushing the door forcefully so that she could see that Maan Singh Khurana was waiting for her.
Geet was startled by the sudden roar and looked to up to see why the person was shouting at her. She saw a tall lean figure with his hands crossed on his chest with his nose breathing fire. Geet's reaction turned from annoyance to surprise to utter fear once she saw him fuming at her.
"Geet," he roared again, "when somebody knocks your door could you please do me the favor of looking at the person before you start blabbering," Maan said sarcastically.
Geet still started blankly at the uninvited guest unable to fathom that the man she despised stood in front of her.
"Geet," he said waving his hands in front of her face to gain her attention.
"Huh?" she said hesitantly. "Endi Geetu avana pati nenaippu ivvalo perugi nokku avane nikaara maathiri thondrathu, illai avan illai avan varamaatan, (What Geetu thinking about him has increased so much that it seems like he is standing in front of you, no, its not him, he wont come)" she said chuckling at her own silly thought and hitting her head slightly.
That was it! Maan couldn't take it anymore, her childish and annoying behavior was taking a toll on his patience meter. "Geet!" he snapped while shaking her shoulder vigorously. The vigorous shaking did the trick, Geet came back to reality with a loud gasp. "Geet seriously, could you get any more insane than now?" he said slowly stalking her while Geet steadily moved back. Maan had her cornered near the wall while Geet still looked shocked. He bent towards her ears and whispered, "haan Geet?"
His closeness made Geet aware of his musky cologne smell that brought her back to reality. She snapped her head up shooting an angry look at Maan and nudged him away from her with her index finger.
"Mr. Jellyfish Singh Khurana, aap apne aapko samajhte kaun ho? Ivaru periya avaru (As if he is a big that)" she said walking towards him. Now it was Maan's turn to stagger backwards. he looked at her questioning her intentions as Geet threatened more moving further closer while continuing to shout at him. "Yeh bhi koi karta hai, pehle se hi kam aawaz mein baat karte ho aur phir mujhe chillate ho! Che che che (please note its not chi the e is pronounced as an 'A' phonetic. It is equivalent to Ugh!)," she said frowning as if she had tasted something bitter. "Pehle se hi I was so tensed that I tore your blazer by mistake and I hoped that I could return it before I get to see you, but then nahi you had to come there and spoil everything," she said huffing. "Ab aap yahan kyun aaye ho, aapko meri resignation letter nahi mila kya? I have had enough of your harkatein," she said as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She slapped her hands together as if praying, "Pothum saami pothum, rendu naal-la patta kashtam pothum (Enough, enduring all the pain in two days is enough!) Pata hai aapko us din airport main main jaan boochkar nahi aayi, aapke driver ne hi over speed mein chal raha tha. Maine sirf aapse sorry kehne ke liye kaha, magar nahi aap toh apne aapko kya samajh rakha hai, antha aadavanukku than theriyum (only that God knows!)" she said looking up as a fresh set of tears rolled down. "You carelessly threw my bags away, pata hai log kaise mujhe dek rahe the?" she asked while Maan looked down guiltily. "I came to Delhi against my father's pleadings just to work in the company that I had always dreamed of, I even conceded to assent to your torturous challenge so that I could at least work in my dream job aana vidamatale (but you wont leave) jab dekho aapki man marzi. Che pongo santhoshama pongo (Ugh! Go, go happily) I shall never cross your path again," she said for the one final time before facing away from him stifling her anger, tears, and sorrow.
Maan had listened to her without raising a finger. He was guilty as charged and thus he deserved it, but what confused him was, first she had called him jellyfish and while speaking in the middle she randomly mumbled in some other language he failed to understand. From her expressions it was clear she was probably shouting at him but what irked him was the word jellyfish. She had called Maan Singh Khurana jellyfish! Was that even a gaali he wondered, he would ask her later. He only wanted to apologize to her for his silly behavior but seeing her upset he realized the wound went deeper, he was not only accountable for one mistake but a series of felony, making his apology look like an insignificant peapod. He feverishly rubbed his temple trying to quickly think of a way to make her understand he was sincere this time and he would not repeat it.
"Woh Geet, actually, umm," he began desperately searching for the right words. But words failed him; he cursed his brain for conveniently shutting down at the wrong time. He bent his face down and his shoulders slumped down as if in shame. He had to do some damage control thus he made up his mind to go face her. He walked in front of her and softly called her name to gain her attention and went to hold his hands on his ears when Geet looked at him from the corner of her eyes. Irritated by actions, she quickly turned again away from him.
"Please, ab aap kuch mat keejiyega, if you want to do me a favor, please leave from here sir," she said sternly looking away from him. She had made up her mind that it was not worth enduring his rude behavior anymore when she placed the resignation letter but now he was making it more complicated, she wanted to clear her mind before she could even think of trusting his words again. Maan once again tried to reason his sincere effort, yet she was not ready to budge.
Maan sighed admitting defeat and decided to leave her alone. He headed for the door but he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her back. "Geet I am really sorry, I never meant to hurt you, it's just that my anger possessed me and I was forced to act like a jerk. I don't know if I should be forgiven but please give this a one more thought because it would be a shame to loose a talent like you," he said sincerely. With that last parting words he left her alone.
Maan arrived at the hotel after quite a long drive from the airport. The hotel was in the heart of the New York City with a beautiful view of the city skyline as well as the Statue of Liberty. He checked into the hotel and decided to explore the city once he settled himself in his room.
As Maan settled himself, looking forward to suppress his sorrow trying to engage himself in some activity, on the other hand Geet desperately trying to pacify her angry little sweetheart for a huge crime on her part.
Geet woke up to find herself sleeping on the couch comfortably. She rubbed her eyes clearing of the previous day's memories while suppressing a yawn. She tried to find Arjun and Kritika around the house but instead she found Kritika safely tucked in bed and a sticky note stuck on the refrigerator. It read:
Hey Ammulu,
Sorry had to rush so I didn't get a chance to wait until you woke up. I managed to make a few pancakes and have left a few for you and Kriti. I shall come back early, until then don't think too much.
-Arjun
Ah! He made pancakes; well good because she was famished. She tied her long hair into a bun in one quick motion and got up to take shower. Since it was a Saturday, she decided to wake Kritika later so that she could sleep for some more time. After the morning rituals, she went to wake Kritika.
"Good morning chellam (sweetheart)," Geet said while gently shaking Kritika awake. Kritika groggily stirred on the bed and hazily looked up to see her smiling mother. Kritika had expected a different kind of wake up call but her mother simply stood watching her. Not receiving any new response from her mother, she jerked her eyes open, clearly angry with her mother.
"Ahem," Kritika cleared her throat. "Morning, morning," she said grumpily angry that her mother had forgotten.
"Kannamma (darling) brush your teeth quickly so that you can have you favorite chocolate chips pancakes. A small smile crept on Kritika's lips, so amma does remember she thought happily, and headed towards the bathroom. Coming back Kritika found her mother busily preparing something, least bothered by her presence. Kritika fumed with anger and stomped to the dining table.
"Vaadi (come) aarida poguthu (it may become cold)," Geet said pointing to the pancakes on the plate.
Kritika was really breathing fire; she slumped down on the chair. "Ma, aren't you forgetting something," she asked through her gritted teeth.
Geet looked confused at Kritika's question failing to grasp the meaning. "Ennadi chollare (what are you saying)?" she asked clearly having no idea.
"Mamma, aaj date kya hai," she asked sweetly with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Aaj, hmm, kyun?"
"Oh god! Just tell me the date," Kritika whined.
Geet looked at the nearby calendar that hung by the wall. And as soon as she realized her folly, she bit her tongue for committing such a blunder. It was 9th September her darling jaan, Kritika's birthday. She mentally slapped herself for forgetting it. How could she forget the date her angel star was born to lead a kindly light in her life. Tears rolled down her cheek while she rushed to Kritika's side pleading forgiveness.
"I am so sorry da, I really forgot. I, I" Geet said crying like a child afraid she didn't hurt Kritika.
Kritika just turned her face away from her mother. Every single year her mother had made her day special. Early morning wishes, special baked cake, outing, and movie time, oh wait of course presents too! But this year she seemed to have totally forgotten it, making her pout. Unable to satisfy Kritika, Geet pleaded to be given a chance to make up for her mistake. She promised double treat, outing to anywhere Kritika commands, and double presents hoping she would be forgiven.
ALRIGHT DEARIES... HERE IS THE NEXT UPDATE. SORRY I COULDNT INCLUDE THE SECOND PRECAP. ACTUALLY I HAD EXAMS LAST WEEK SO WAS REALLY BUSY THE PAST FEW WEEKS STUDYING MY HEAD OFF 😕 THATS THE REASON I COULDNT UPDATE... ANYWAYS EVEN TODAY I WAS EXHAUSTED COZ THIS PAST WEEK I HAVE HAD ONLY 2-3 HOURS OF SLEEP EACH NIGHT BUT SINCE I HAD PROMISED AN UPDATE I HAD TO KEEP IT UP... SO I HOPE U GUYS LIKE IT... PLEASE DO COMMENT... I PROMISE TO UPDATE TMR... (PSST I SEE MORE COMMENTS I UPDATE QUICKER 😉)
@JYO: THNX DARLING FOR WAITING PATIENTLY... I KNOW I DIDNT LIVE UPTO UR EXPECTATION OF INCLUDING THE SECOND PRECAP BUT SORRY YAAR I AM SERIOUSLY DEAD, MY EYES ARE DROOPING FROM LACK OF SLEEP FOR THE PAST WEEK. LET ME ENERGIZE MYSELF BEFORE I CAN GIVE A DHAMKEDAAR UPDATE... WHAT SAY?😆
Financial markets and global economy
Ishaani
66